Concerning Corporal's Course

Well,
I must admit that this past few days weeks, months, and year has been flying by! It has certainly not been the easiest year for me in many ways, but never the less, I'm still breathing (somehow).
I meant to give my remarks on Corporal's Course back in July some time ago, but I've had so many other things going on of late, that only now have I been able to get to it! Bear with me as some of this account may be a bit scatter-brained.
My AT (Annual Training) began somewhere about the middle of July, not long after my trip to Vegas. I must say that I was a bit frustrated as I packed and planned for the nearly two week period of training. There were various articles of clothing, etc that was on the list, that I was rather certain would not be necessary to bring (we would not need to use them - more of a personal preference, but still required). Despite this, I was a little anxious as well, as I knew that it was going to be a rough couple of weeks!
I did not know how right I was until I arrived; but, it started to sink in. For one thing, even though I knew I would upfront be paying for two weeks of housing, I found out only a few days prior to AT that I would be paying for housing off base! So rather than the mere $11 per night on base I would be paying about $60! So, I was not very happy with that!
And then, as we (my roommate and I) started to settle into our new surroundings, we soon learned that the much desired FREE chow hall food we had hoped for, we would have to spend more time eating elsewhere due to the long hours spent each day (aprox 12+) .
An average day started out at around 0500 with a quick shower (for me) and then off to PT (which was often longer than most sessions as it was more concerned with mission accomplishment, than time spent accomplishing the mission!) Then, we had time to take a quick shower, change over and head into the classroom for several hours of lectures over highly interesting information in a temperature most comfortable to us all (usually the kind that would put one to sleep regardless of a lecture, which often sped up this process).
We also, had a time of practical application in areas such as drill (marching Marines in formation, learning the drill movements, etc) and later sword manual (learning the sword movements in formal formations).
This was our regular routine for most of the time there. And then the day before graduation after we had completed our final written and practical application exams, we had a final phase of training: the Battle Course (aprox 24hrs). This Course consisted of urban warfare (dealing with clearing housing in fire teams), land navigation, squad and fire team movements. Although, this was a long day, it was likely the most fun as we were able to put all of the skills we had learned over the past two weeks to use in this final phase of training!
Following this, after a brief couple (aprox 3hrs or less) hours of sleep, it was time to change into our Charlies (Tan short sleeve blouse with green trousers) for our graduation ceremony. And that, was pretty much the end, aside from a few final loose ends to tie up!
All in all, though it was a tiring time, it was a good time, and I'm thankful for the training that I gained in the course, and I can honestly say that I am a better Corporal and NCO because of it and I feel more confident as a leader of Marines!

Semper Fidelis,

CPL Joshua Lee Foist